The Godly Rose
by thelazyrose
Summary: After Pyrrha and Ruby meet a mysterious fate to the effects of a rare dust, the rest of team RWBY and JNPR are left to investigate the matter, only to learn Beacon Academy may not be as safe as they originally thought. (RubyXPyrrha. There will be other ships too. This fanfiction uses Lazy!Ruby from my Tumblr Blog, thelazyrose. Meaning there is no Canon!Ruby here.)
1. Prologue

**A/N: Hello everybody! Here is a new fanfiction my partner and I will be working on! This fic will focus on Ruby and Pyrrha, but will also involve a lot of other characters. The main ship will be Godly Rose (RubyXPyrrha), but of course there will be other ships too. I hope you guys have fun with reading. Dont Worry, the next chapters will be a lot longer.**

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><p>"Is it done?" Emerald asked curiously, her arms folded as she looked over curiously at Cinder who seemed to be fiddling with some kind of dust. She seemed so focused on it, carefully spreading the power over a few needles, slim and sharp enough to the point where they almost looked harmless, when it was really quite the contrary. "Is that…" Emerald began to ask, before Cinder interrupted, "Black Dust Potion? The very same." "Black Dust what?" Mercury asked, his arms folded and his body language indicating boredom. "Have you been paying attention?" Emerald scolded, Cinder soon raising a hand to indicate both of them to be quiet.<p>

"We're done here. Tell the others to get the Bullhead ready for departure." Cinder ordered, her tone calm and collected.

Some time after, Jaune was leaving the roof after discussing with Pyrrha Weiss' rejection. Oblivious to her sadness, he returned to his room, Pyrrha staying on the roof. This was a normal thing for the lady, sadly. When she was alone and Jaune pulled things like this… she would sob silently. She let her hands reach to her face. Though, as if any gods of Remnant themselves wanted her to cease her self-pity, a voice called from behind her. "Pyrrha Nikos. Just who I was looking for." The redhead slowly turned around to see who it was….

Meanwhile, as per usual, Ruby was taking a nap in her bed, Weiss instructing the others to get ready for decorating the academy for the dance the following day. But a scream could be heard from a ways away. The others perked up and ceased their debating, while Ruby simply turned over and moaned, "Someone tell Jaune to be quiet." To which Blake answered, "I don't think that was Jaune, Ruby. I think that was… Pyrrha? Sounds like it came from the roof." Ruby sat up immediately, her favoritism between the blond and the redhead quite obvious already. "PYRRHA?!" She exclaimed, using her Semblance to zip out of her dorm room, down the hall, and up to the roof.

Once there, Ruby saw a few familiar figures. "Hey… you're those students from…" She yawned, still a bit lethargic from her nap. "…from Haven. What are you doing to Pyrrha?" Just in case, she brandished her scythe. "Hmmm… this could prove to be… problematic…" Cinder said, looking between Ruby and Pyrrha. Pyrrha was on the floor in agony, a needle sticking out of her neck. She finally yanked it out and tossed it to the floor, staggering and looking up at Cinder, the woman simply smirking at her… achievement… "Pyrrha… attack Ms… Ruby Rose, was it?" She rhetorically asked, Pyrrha pulling out her spear and looking over at Ruby, a glazed look in her eyes. "Pyrrha? What happe-" Before Ruby could finish her question, Pyrrha darted forward, Ruby dodging it with ease. Although she had her weapon out, Ruby seemed reluctant to use it on Pyrrha. Mercury and Emerald prepared to intervene, but Cinder put her arms out, blocking them. "One moment… I want to see where this goes." The two obeyed quietly, standing down as the fight went on.

Ruby soon used her Semblance to zip in circles around Pyrrha, confusing and dazing her, and with a bit of sleight of hand managing to get her hands on her spear. With a slight twirl and barrage of fake attacks, Ruby through the spear right at Pyrrha, the weapon soaring through the small cape she had and sticking her to the wall, momentarily rendering her unable to fight. Cinder seemed… pleased… of all things with these results. And while Ruby had a small moment of pride in her victory, she soon felt a sting in her neck. "Ow!" She exclaimed, turning to her assailant and dashing towards her. The scythe stopped inches away from Cinder as Ruby was paralyzed, the potion coated onto the needle quickly taking effect… it wouldn't be long until she was just like Pyrrha…

"Come on! She went this way!" Jaune shouted to the rest of Team's JNPR and RWBY, bursting open the door to the roof and observing the scene. Pyrrha seemed incapacitated and Jaune overheard Cinder's last part of her sentence. "-it seems we won't need Ms. Nikos after all…" Their heads snapped to look at Jaune, who seemed a bit outnumbered. "Ruby, what's going on here?" The blond asked, pulling out his sword and shield, just in case. "Obey, Ruby. Kill him. No witnesses." Cinder ordered the girl, Ruby turning and shooting Crescent Rose's projectiles over at the 'intruder'. "WOAH!" He shouted, barely dodging the blasts. "Ruby! Stop!" Ruby switched to her scythe form, slowly walking towards him. Jaune had no idea what to do, but now he knew those Haven kids were bad news. "Ruby… Ruby it's me Jaune… don't you remember me?" Ruby sliced forward, Jaune barely getting out of the way, stumbling back.

"Ruby! You were meant to be a huntress! You were supposed to oppose those who wanted to destroy Remnant's peace, _not join them_!" He shouted, Emerald looking over to Mercury and asking, "Is he… referencing something?" Jaune looked around and got on top of what appeared to be the air conditioner. "I have the high ground, Ruby! I win!" He continued shouting to his former comrade. "Yeah. He's _totally_ referencing something." Mercury said back to Emerald.

Ruby, or whatever brainwashed version of Ruby this was, was done with all these games. Her silver eyes seemed to glow almost a red hue (most likely due to the strange dust substance her body was forced to 'ingest') as she combined her scythe and Semblance to finish the blond off. But somehow… she missed… all she saw was a green mist and Jaune disappear. Slightly disoriented, she looked around, wondering what happened. Was it one of the other students? _No_. It was… Doctor Oobleck. "Could the rumors be true? Is Ms. Rose actually…?" Oobleck began, Professor Port not too far behind, squinting his eyes at the 'Haven students'. "Looks like a classic case of the Black Dust Potion, Bartholomew." Port replied.

"If you both know what's good for you… you'd turn back now…" Cinder threatened, her hands illuminating with fire in her very palms. "After you just tried to kill one of my students _with_ one of my students?" Oobleck questioned angrily, standing in front of Jaune. "Now listen. Mr. Arc may not be the best in his studies. He may not be a competent fighter. In fact, he may not even belong in this academy…" He began, Jaune intervening by whining, "Hey!" "But…" Oobleck continued, "If you think you can infiltrate a school full of trained huntsmen and huntresses and get away with hurting one of _my_ students? …Well…_ that's where you're wrong_."

Mercury and Emerald got ready to fight, since it was now a four on three battle if they intervened. Unfortunately, time wasn't on their side, and the remaining members of Teams JNPR and RWBY showed up. "Don't worry. The gang's here. Time to kick some butt." Yang said, a cocky grin on her face as she pounded her fists together. "Where's Pyrrha?" Ren asked, observing the rooftop. He had a good point. Jaune noticed she wasn't where she used to be. While the others were distracted with their allies, a Bullhead with Roman Torchwick and Neo as the passengers. Roman motioned for them to get on, Neo holding an unconscious Pyrrha. "Deal with the riff raff, will you?" Cinder told Ruby, smiling and hopping on board the Bullhead with Mercury and Emerald close behind. "Okay… what do we do about Ruby?" Jaune asked the Professors. "Why? What's wrong with her?" Weiss asked, concern obvious in her voice. "Long story short, she's being mind-controlled by something called a Black Dust Potion." Port contributed. Ruby was glaring at all of them, scythe out. "Well what do we do?" Blake asked, getting in a defensive stance. "Do we attack?" Ren asked. "NO! You guys are NOT hurting my sister!" Yang exclaimed, Ruby soon falling unconscious due to Nora somehow sneaking her way behind her and knocking her out. "…What?…" She asked when everyone began glaring at Nora's direction.

"Well now what?" Jaune asked. "…Hold on… I have to make a phone call…" Weiss stated, in a monotone voice.


	2. Chapter 1

**A/N: Welcome back Guys. Thank you so much for the 5 Followers and 1 Fav this fanfiction already received. I dont have much else to say, except enjoy this bit of a short chapter, but dont worry the next chapters will become a lot longer!**

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><p>The following morning, Jaune made his way into Professor Ozpin's office. "Y-You uh… called for me… sir?" He asked, looking around the room. Within the room there was a screen above Ozpin's head with Pyrrha Nikos and a large bit of information on her, Professor Port, and Doctor Oobleck. "You may go." Professor Ozpin told the teachers, both of them departing. They had just gotten done dispensing a wealth of information about the prior night's events to Ozpin. As the teachers left, Jaune remained quiet, Ozpin sipping his drink from his cup. "…Mr. Arc, please, have a seat. We have much to discuss."<p>

While the two talked, it seemed the RWBY dorm had a visitor… "WEISS' SISTER?" Yang and Blake exclaimed, looking between her sister Winter and Weiss herself. Winter nodded and introduced. "Winter Schnee of the Schnee Dust Company. A pleasure. Weiss told me everything last night. We don't really have much information about it surprisingly enough, but the important thing is some of our scientists THINK they have a way to negate it." Weiss, Blake, and Yang perked up, listening to Winter carefully. Winter continued to explain, "You see. Dust is trigger by our very souls, and something you all may be familiar with, our auras. When certain dust elements are combined in a pattern of-" Then Winter began to overexplain, the other girls confused, looking to one another, until Weiss finally interrupted, "Sis, please, for those of us who are simple _huntresses-in-training_, get to the point."

Winter frowned and cleared her throat. "Very… very well then. I will make this simple. You must run up to them and channel your aura _into_ them. The problem is, it must be someone with no experience. If you are too familiar with your Semblance and you channel your aura into a victim of BDP, who knows WHAT could happen!" Everyone in the room thought among one another, until Weiss added, "So… we basically need someone who has no idea what they're doing? Probably hasn't even mastered their Semblance? …Someone like…"

"Mr. Arc." Ozpin repeated, looking over to Jaune. The blond shook his head, his mind wandering due to the events of last night. "We're going to need you, your team, and RWBY's team to go on a mission. I will assure there isn't a panic among the students, but you all must rescue Pyrrha Nikos in secret." Ozpin explained. "Is Ruby going to be okay?" Jaune asked, Ozpin's face going from serious to a slight frown. "She will be fine. Fortunately the effects of the Black Dust Potion aren't severe if you're only exposed to it once or twice. She will be her normal self once she regains consciousness." Jaune looked over to the couch Ruby was resting on at the office, which he didn't see when he originally came in here. "Um… Mr. Ozpin, sir… This is _Ruby Rose_ we're talking about. She's not going to be awake for a whi-" "All for the better…" Ozpin interrupted, adjusting his glasses.

Another thing that was bothering Jaune finally surfaced out of his mouth. "Professor Ozpin… you don't think Doctor Oobleck was right, do you? About that whole 'me not belonging at Beacon' thing?" Ozpin simply shook his head and closed his eyes. "He told me what he said. I know every detail of your fight with those alleged 'Haven' students. Don't worry, I'm sure you have the potential for great things…" He looked up to the screen that still had Pyrrha and her information displayed. "…I just think you needed the right teacher." Ozpin continued, smiling and saying quietly, "**_I know more than you think, Mr. Arc._**" After a small sip of by the smell what could only be assumed was coffee, Ozpin added, "Speaking of, we will need to utilate all the skills of Teams RWBY and JNPR in order to set things right. If we hope to sneak into where we _hope_ their base of operations is, we will need disguises, the right credentials, weapons, a plan, and hopefully Ms. Rose's cooperation."

After another small sip, Ozpin continued, "Get ready for your first official Beacon Academy mission, Mr. Arc. And relay this mission to your teammates and Team RWBY for me. Your teammate Lie Ren and Ms. Schnee will be reconnaissance for this mission. Ms. Belladonna will acquire the White Fang disguises needed for this operation. Ms. Valkryie and Ms. Xiao Long will be the infiltration team. And you, Mr. Arc, _will be in charge of getting fake credentials_." Jaune nervously laughed, rubbing the back of his neck. "Heh… W-well, Professor, I don't know how to-" Ozpin put a hand on the blond's shoulder, a knowing smile crossing his face as he said, "…I have a feeling you know how to find a way, Jaune…" He waved his hand and ordered Jaune to return to his team and relay those orders. "I'll come with you." A voice called from behind the two. It was the one and only Ruby Rose. She rubbed the back of her neck and rotated it nonchalantly.

"Ruby! You're awake! And… not trying to kill me?" Jaune asked in a hopeful tone, slightly flinching. "Eh. I might." Ruby joked, stretchin


	3. Chapter 2

**A/N: Once again I dont have to say very much, except that I hope you guys enjoy this chapter very much. Reviews to our writing would also be very appreciated! Hope ya guys enjoy it!**

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><p>"So, let me get this straight, our plan is that once I give you guys these disguises necessary for this mission we need to walk straight into the base where they're holding Pyrrha? <em>Assuming<em> Weiss and Ren are even successful in their reconnaissance?" Blake asked, seemingly unimpressed with the plan. Yang looked between her sister Ruby and her partner Blake, giving a firm nod. "Hey, if Ruby likes the plan and Professor Ozpin came up with it, what could possibly go wrong, right?" Blake held up some of the paperwork that Jaune was able to get his hands on, frowning and skimming them. "Well… to be fair, with my disguises and these _very_ convincing credentials, it's not the worst plan ever. And, Yang, as long as you and Nora time your 'distraction' right Ruby should be able to sneak to where they're holding Pyrrha no problem, along with Jaune since we have to use his aura for the Black Dust Potion transfer Winter was talking about before she left."

"Cool cool. So what do I do?" A voice called him behind them. But… how could anyone call from behind them? The only thing behind them was… the window… Sure enough, their monkey faunus friend Sun was hanging by his tail, eavesdropping once more. "Sun! What did I say about-" Blake shook her head and sighed, adding, "Well come in, I guess. I'm sure Neptune can't wait to get in, too." From the door instead of the window this time, Neptune answered, "Actually I took the stairs this time." "Wuss." Sun teased. "Shut up, dude." Neptune joked right back.

"You guys can… help Yang and Nora, I guess." Ruby dismissed with a wave of her hand, honestly just getting impatient with this whole planning thing. To add to the already cramped space of the RWBY dorm, Team JNPR (save Pyrrha) walked in with Weiss as well who returned from her scouting mission. "Guys, we found it. Let's go." Weiss ordered.

Back at the now-not-so-hidden White Fang base of operations, unspeakable things were taking place. Torturous dust experiments were conducted on Pyrrha Nikos, Cinder attempting to bend her _very soul_. What little bit of Pyrrha's actual consciousness was fleeting, her mind changing to the woman's very will. "Don't go anywhere~" Cinder teased, leaving behind Pyrrha and tending to other matters around the base. "Roman." She called out to her 'employee'. "I think this base may have been… compromised… we may need to move some of the equipment. I'll be waiting in the war room." She ordered, leaving Roman to deal with the 'riff raff'.

When the orange-haired criminal looked around at the 'staff' of this facility, he shouted to a group of White Fang members, "Well! You heard the lady didn't you? Quit monkeying around!" "Well some of us can't help it… 'sir'…" A voice called from next to Roman. Even with the White Fang disguise, Roman would recognize Sun anywhere since that fight on the docks. Sun had his weapons in their 'shotgun' form, aimed right at Roman's cheek. "Wow, kid, you just never give up, do ya?" Roman asked rhetorically, using his cane to smack the weapon away from his face. "NOW!" Ruby shouted, giving Yang and Nora the symbol to begin their 'infiltration', which really meant distraction at this point. Yang removed her mask and, as she would put it, 'went to town' on the surrounding ACTUAL White Fang members while Sun dealt with Roman. "Where's Nora?" Ruby asked, her voice monotoned. "I don't know! She got distracted and wanted to check something out!" Yang shouted, disarming a White Fang member and smacking him with his own weapon.

"I'll go find her." Blake offered, looking over to Ren expecting him to be a bit more worried. He looked worried, but 'scared' worried. Like a ghost was right in front of him or something. He pointed ahead of him, muttering, "I think _she_ found _us_." Near the debris of a gate, a Paladin stolen from the Atlesian military by the White Fang made its way into the large arena-like room. And the pilot… Nora Valkryie… "AHAHAHAHAHA! YOU CAN RUN BUT YOU CAN'T HIDE!" She maniacally laughed through a two-way speaker on the vehicle, launching missiles left and right. "W-W-Woah! Nora! You never told me you could drive one of those things!" Jaune excitedly exclaimed. "I can't!" She replied, proceeding to press random buttons and accidentally knock people left and right.

"Well, now's a good time as any. C'mon, Jaune. The others got it by now." Ruby muttered, grabbing him by the wrist and dragging him to what she assumed was the way to the cell block. With surprising ease, Jaune and Ruby sliced their way through any trouble along the way as they explored, finally finding the room where Pyrrha was held. It looked so… dastardly. Some form of chains were holding her against the wall, Pyrrha looking up and growling at the two. "Hold on, Pyrrha! I'll get you out of there!" Jaune exclaimed, rushing to what appeared to be a computer console. "Uh… Jaune…" Ruby began, slowly becoming less and less sure of this idea. But it was too late, Jaune pressed the button, releasing his partner from her shackles. Instead of falling to the ground like a ragdoll like the two thought she would, she landed on her feet, looking up to the two, her eyes quite the red color. "Jaune you should have done the thing first." Ruby scolded, shaking her head.

Before Jaune could ask what 'the thing' was or complain about her ordering him around, Pyrrha lunged at Ruby, her weapon not in hand but her hands balled up into fists. Ruby dodged the attack, but the woman landed her hit right into Jaune. "GUH!" He let out, falling to the ground, scrambling to his sword and shield. "P-Pyrrha!" He exclaimed, not wanting to fight his partner. "Jaune… you're too late…" The redhead muttered in a low tone quite maliciously. "You weren't there to save me… from this… and Ruby…" She turned to Ruby, Pyrrha's eyes narrowing. "You failed at saving me. And now you'll both_ regret it_." Whoever this was, it clearly wasn't the Pyrrha they knew and loved.

"I'll keep her busy! Do the aura thing!" Ruby yelled, pulling out her scythe and blocking Pyrrha's attacks. "How do I do it, though?!" Jaune worriedly asked. "Oh my G- JUST RUN UP AND HUG HER AND THINK ABOUT- Oh nevermind." Ruby sounded disgusted with the blond's lack of competence, throwing Crescent Rose to the floor and tackling Pyrrha. Jaune ran up trying to help, but stopped when he saw what he did. The two were suddenly covered in rose pedals, a literal aura surrounding them both. Were his adrenaline not pumping, he would have blushed slightly at the sight of the rather… well… intimate moment.

Speaking of intimate, as the moment dragged on, Ruby looked Pyrrha in the eyes, Pyrrha gazing back. Her eyes were still red and her aura 'felt' different, but she was… _back in control_. "Ruby…" She whispered, her hands going to her cheeks… "Thank you…" She stood up with Ruby's help, holding onto her head. "Pyrrha you're… you're…" Jaune began, Pyrrha cocking a brow expecting him to say 'okay' or something. "…A LESBIAN?!" He surprisingly exclaimed instead, his partner's eyes widening. She walked over to him and slapped him right across the cheek, which surprised him a lot. The Pyrrha he knew would… would never do such a thing, right? "Come on, guys. I know the way out of here… we need to exit through the central work area." Pyrrha stated coldly, completely ignoring the blond's feelings. "Um… alright but there might not be a central work area." Ruby replied, rubbing the back of her head. "Why not?" Pyrrha asked, slightly annoyed and slightly curious. Ruby shrugged and bluntly replied, "Nora is piloting a Paladin right now." To which Pyrrha responded, "_Oh dear lord_."


	4. Chapter 3

**A/N: I am so fucking High right now, uhh.. I mean welcome back to The Godly Rose. Today my partner and I will present to you the 3rd installment of the fanfiction! Huzzah! Let the reading begin!**

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><p>It was a surprisingly short fight, and the conclusion wasn't surprising at all. They made it out with Pyrrha, Roman escaped, Cinder was never seen again, and everyone lived. No one doubted Ruby's competence, but rescuing Pyrrha wasn't the problem, or that's what Ozpin was telling the others. In fact, the old man, for once, seemed rather put off by their, for lack of a better word, <em>pyrrhic<em> victory. Although, like with many situations, Professor Glynda Goodwitch was the voice of his frustration.

"So you mean to tell me, that not only did you all manage to not follow the simple instructions Ozpin gave you for this mission, but now we're left with this?!" She exclaimed through gritted teeth as she pointed towards Ruby and Pyrrha, who seemed strangely close after today's events. "The condition has a name, Glynda," Ozpin corrected, "I and the other professors have dubbed it 'soulbound'. Yes, I did warn them that two people who have already mastered their auras would have strange side-effects if they tried to extract the darkness from one another. It seems Ms. Rose and Ms. Nikos have formed a rather strange connection. A bond." The other, excluding the two mentioned, looked to each other, not really liking the sound of that at all.

"Luckily." Glynda continued after being rudely interrupted, "We have a solution. It's a special dust crystal Ms. Schnee's sister was willing to hand to us shortly after you all left on your little search and rescue mission. They studied the uses of the Black Dust Potion and reverse engineered a crystal to its liking. It will remove the darkness within you." Pyrrha then growled, not liking where this is going, "I REFUSE to let anyone take away my power. Not even you, Goodwitch." But it seemed the good professor already planned ahead, smirking and pushing up her glasses. "Ah. Ms. Nikos, I don't have the crystal. Someone of your team has it by random. And I will not tell you who-" "SNEAK ATTACK!" Nora yelled, tapping the crystal against Pyrrha suddenly.

From the looks on Ozpin and Glynda's face, this did NOT seem like a good thing. Suddenly, a black mist erupted from Pyrrha's chest, leaving her seemingly unscathed, strangely enough. "Wha… what happened?" She asked, looking around, her eyes going back to their normal green color. "J-Jaune- where-" She looked around, noticing the black mist which soon attacked the blond she was speaking to. "You fools." Jaune stated in a low voice, his blue eyes going to the same red Pyrrha's once had. "Hmhmhmhm. Suddenly everyone will look up to the powerful 'goofball' before them. With this new Semblance, I'll-" In the middle of his sentence, Nora pegged Jaune with the glowing white crystal, the object bouncing off of his forehead and landing into Ruby's hands. "Wha-" Jaune stumbled back a bit dazed, his voice going from slightly more deep and serious to goofy and dumbfounded again, his eyes the same blue. "Did someone get the number of that Grimm?" He asked. The black mist swirled in the air, then went for Ozpin. Glynda quickly leaped into the way, blocking it with something that looked like a magic sigil created via her riding crop weapon. It deflected the mist easily, as it headed straight back for Pyrrha.

"Children! Get down!" Glynda yelled, Ruby using her Semblance to tackle Pyrrha out of the way. The black mist seemed to avoid Ruby entirely. Perhaps… perhaps it didn't go after jaded souls like hers. And ever since the passing of her mother Summer Rose, her aspirations lowered as her knowledge raised. She was a child prodigy… When she was younger, she wanted nothing more to be a huntress like her mother. But now, the work it took became a burden over time. And she wanted nothing more than to lay around and hurt those who stopped her. And since it went after good people like Ozpin, Jaune, and Pyrrha… perhaps it went after more simple, purer souls. It soon flew out of the door, Glynda widening her eyes and looking to her students. "We have to go after it!" She exclaimed, the others readying their weapons.

"J-Jaune…" Pyrrha said as she ran. It seemed… she was recalling the previous events before them. "I… I'm sorry for hurting you earlier." Jaune smiled and simply replied, "…Don't apologize for something you didn't do." This put a smile back on her face, the eight of them, with Ozpin and Glynda surprisingly lagging behind, chasing after the horrid mist. It turned a corner, and for a few minutes they thought they lost it. But then they heard screaming… a deep voice calling for help… "Cardin?" Ruby asked lazily.

Before them they saw a sight they didn't think would ever happen. A very familiar faunus friend of theirs, Velvet Scarlatina, was on top of Cardin Winchester… he seemed helpless to her pummeling. It was strange. Almost like… seeing a fish out of water. "This is what you get, Cardin Winchester." She growled. "You play with fire… and you get buuuurned. AHAHAHAHAHAHA-" Suddenly the rest of Team CRDL showed up, interrupting, "Hey! What makes you think you can just beat on our leader you little b-" Before they could finish their sentence, Velvet's head turned suddenly towards Russel, Dove, and Lark, flashing a cheshire smile in their direction. It paralyzed the three, which was strange. This mist must have had some dark influence. They ended up running off, leaving their leader at the mercy of evil Velvet.

Pyrrha then began to put everything together, muttering, "…I… brought this to Beacon?" She felt so much pity, and almost looked like she was about to drop to her knees. She frowned and got a serious expression on her face, walking by Ruby and snatching the crystal from her, holding it up to Velvet. "Come and get it." She growled to the evil entity. "NO!" Glynda shouted, "The crystal only has a few uses before it-" Soon it shattered in Pyrrha's hands, the dark mist swirling around and going right back through Pyrrha's chest and into her very soul once more. "Wha-…what do we do now?" Jaune asked the others. "Well if you all would let me finish a sentence…" Ozpin growled, regarding Nora's irrational action. "Soulbound can be rather useful. Pyrrha's soul may be forever tainted until we find a more permanent solution… but until then, it seems Ms. Rose is our only salvation." Ozpin bent down a small ways, placing a hand on Ruby's shoulder. "You know what you must do now, right, Ruby? If we wish to keep her alive… Ms. Nikos will be your responsibility…"

The redhead turned away from Velvet, walking over next to Ruby and smiling, looking at all the others. Ruby seemed content with this deal, afterall, the girl had something of a crush on the warrior as it was. She smiled and stood closer to Pyrrha closing the gap between the two. Ozpin soon explained to Team's RWBY and JNPR that they'd have to say goodbye to Ruby and Pyrrha, for sharing a dorm with them would be too dangerous. They'd be their own 'special circumstances' team… at least temporarily. Team NR (Noire), with their own dorm and everything. After the short explanation and informal group transformation, everyone dispersed with their 'new' teams, Ozpin saying it was 'for the best'. A huge form of regret was building up in Jaune. On the way back to the school, Ren and Nora told Jaune everything about the torment that could have been built up in Pyrrha. Everything he did. That was _his_ fault. Soon it was just Jaune, Ruby, and Pyrrha by themselves in the hall. "Come on, Pyrrha. Let's go to our new room." Ruby stated. Pyrrha smiled and gave a nod to the shorter girl, shooting a grim look in Jaune's direction before leaving. "Wait!" Jaune exclaimed. He wasn't sure if this was a genuine feeling, but he… he _needed_ his partner back. It was cheesy, but maybe those kid cartoons were right. Maybe love can break any evil barrier. "Pyrrha I-…" He began, Pyrrha stopping in her tracks and slowly looking over to the blond.

After a few moments, Jaune finally gathered the courage to say what he was thinking. "_I love you._" Ruby actually looked… worried about their current circumstance. In that dark, jaded mind of Ruby's, she secretly hoped Pyrrha didn't return the feelings. "Then you are a fool." Pyrrha spat, her eyes more red than ever. Seemingly satisfied with the answer, Ruby began to trot off, unable to see what happened next. Pyrrha's eyes turned green for a moment, looking over at her former partner, mouthing the words 'Wait for me' before turning a solid red again, following Ruby to their new room.


End file.
